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Gorillaz announce “The Now Now” is releasing June 29th.

BRsomebody

BRsomebody

Member
Oct 28, 2017
785
Doylestown, PA
daveo42 said:
Humanz is their second weakest album to date and one of two I rarely revisit (the other being The Fall). It's not a bad album, but it's weak and in comparison to the rest of their output, it's a bad album. There are some good tracks on it, but it's nowhere near the highs of DD.
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100% this. Humanz was fine and there are still tracks that I go back to ("Andromeda," "Strobelite," "The Apprentice," "Sleeping Powder"), much like The Fall, but not as often as I revisit the other albums.
I wasn't incredibly impressed with the rest of the tracks on the boiler room stream, but maybe they'll grow on me in album form. For me the build up on "Souk Eye" isn't worth the payoff, and I just straight up don't like "Idaho," but that may change. I also wish "Sorcererz" had more going on in it vocally because I love the instrumentation.
"Humility" is still my favorite track on here, but "Tranz" is a pretty close second I think.
 
RecRoulette

RecRoulette

One Winged Slayer
Member
Oct 25, 2017
26,044
The Now Now is probably the "safest" album the Gorillaz has put out. It's a complete 180 from the batshit insanity that was Humanz. I fucking loved Humanz, and before The Now Now came out it was my second favorite Gorillaz album behind Demon Dayz. Considering how people feel about Humanz, of course a safer approach with more Damon and less guests is going to win people over.

That being said, The Now Now is fucking awesome. It's probably right behind Demon Days as far as being one cohesive album. A lot of the songs I thought were boring or just forgettable in the live show (Kansas, One Percent) completely floored me on the album. I think the closing three songs (Fire Flies, One Percent, Souk Eye) is right up there with my old favorite trilogy of songs (Feel Good Inc, El Manana, Every Planet We Reach is Dead).

While we're talking about Souk Eye, it's a lock for top 5 all time Gorillaz song and is probably top 3, best Gorillaz closer by far, and might be one of the best album closers I've ever heard. So yeah, The Now Now is a lot safer and closer to the chest than the last few albums (Without context you could've told me a few songs were off a successor to Everyday Robots and I would've believed you), but what Damon and the rest put out is just wonderful. I really love this album.

Top 3: Souk Eye, Tranz, Fire Flies
I don't think there's a bad track on here. If I had to choose my least favorites it would be Idaho and Magic City, but they fit so well and they're still good. Again, one hell of an album from start to finish, not a lot of folks do that anymore
 
RecRoulette

RecRoulette

One Winged Slayer
Member
Oct 25, 2017
26,044
AlexFlame116 said:
Sorry to bother you Rec but did you preorder the Deluxe Vinyl version from Amazon?

My CD version has shipped yesterday but the Deluxe Vinyl still hasn't budged at all and it's still set to arrive tomorrow.
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No problem at all

My CD version shipped from the Gorillaz store today, Amazon hasn't shipped yet. I got a copy of the album early through old radio station connections lol

Honestly I'd be surprised if that Deluxe version even ships at this point, once it dropped to $60 that was a huge red flag for me.
 
AlexFlame116

AlexFlame116

Prophet of Truth - One Winged Slayer
Member
Nov 17, 2017
23,182
Utah
RecRoulette said:
No problem at all

My CD version shipped from the Gorillaz store today, Amazon hasn't shipped yet. I got a copy of the album early through old radio station connections lol

Honestly I'd be surprised if that Deluxe version even ships at this point, once it dropped to $60 that was a huge red flag for me.
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Yeah it still hasn't shipped yet. And Amazon's customer service isn't really being helpful either so all I can do now is wait and see.
 
Scarface

Scarface

Member
Oct 27, 2017
5,077
Canada
finally getting into that cd quality and its so good so far. I only listened to Humilty and the beginning of Hollywood. Papa snoop coming in smooth as silk. Very nice
 
Sign My Guestbook!

Sign My Guestbook!

Member
May 26, 2018
24,025
Just started listening — what happened to Tranz!! Live version is a legitimate radio blaster full of soul. This feels like a demo in comparison, like Damon was still in the process of tweaking it and only finished it on tour. Sad face, as I adore that version :(

Maybe it'll grow
 
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Mary Celeste

Mary Celeste

Member
Oct 25, 2017
12,197
Sign My Guestbook! said:
Just started listening — what happened to Tranz!! Live version is a legitimate radio blaster full of soul. This feels like a demo in comparison, like Damon was still in the process of tweaking it and only finished it on tour. Sad face, as I adore that version :(

Maybe it'll grow
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I prefer the studio version. it's got that off-kilter, sideways-stylish vibe that I love from Gorillaz. the live version reminds me a bit more of blur's 'The Puritan' with Damon's vocal delivery
 
Madison

Madison

Banned
Oct 27, 2017
8,388
Lima, Peru
Hollywood is also pretty strong, hopefully the album isnt like Humanz so it doesnt fall apart 2/3- through the album.
Unrelated but I miss Little Dragon collabs, those were the highlights of Plastic Beach (aka the best Gorillaz album)
 

Deleted member 18568

User requested account closure
Banned
Oct 27, 2017
944
Is the album (version on Spotify) actually finished? Musically it's interesting and pretty good, but the vocals are horrible. Like Albarn is moaning through an old phone from long distance.
 
overcast

overcast

Member
Oct 25, 2017
13,434
Yeah, my main complaint is Albarn sounding a little bored vocally. On every single song which leads to a lot of it feeling same-y despite the interesting instrumentation.

One listen and the standouts are:
-Kansas
-Sorcererz
-Fireflies
-Souk Eye

Middle stretch from Idaho-Magic City is pretty blanddd.
 
CrimzonSamurai

CrimzonSamurai

Member
Oct 25, 2017
2,660
I gotta say that after listening to the whole thing Humility is still my favorite on the album, but I like everything else, too.

New ranking is PB > DD > Gorillaz > The Now Now > The Fall > Humanz for the main albums.
 
OP
OP

Deleted member 5853

User requested account closure
Banned
Oct 25, 2017
12,725
Damon Albarn says some dumb stuff in a new interview.
Damon Albarn is apparently no fan of Kanye West. In a new interview with the French publication L'obs, the Gorillaz and Blur leader embarks on a bit of a tirade about Kanye, specifically his "abusive" creative relationship with Paul McCartney.

Although Albarn's comments are a little jumbled after being translated from English to French and back, the tone and substance of the exchange are clear. After the interviewer brings up Kanye's lengthy process of gathering samples for Pusha-T's Daytona, Albarn responds, "I do not sample, I create music." He then begins a tangent about Kanye's relationship to McCartney: "Do not get me started on Kanye West … Kanye West trapped Paul McCartney."

McCartney was credited on several Kanye-related songs in 2015, including "All Day," "Only One," and "FourFiveSeconds" with Rihanna. It was not always clear exactly what McCartney did on these songs, which Albarn says is because Kanye pared down McCartney's contributions to almost nothing. Speaking about the removal of McCartney's voice from "FourFiveSeconds," Albarn says, "It's rude… I have a problem with this abusive collaboration: we're talking about Paul McCartney, anyway! Kanye West thinks only of Kanye West, using a name to make headlines, saying 'McCartney is in my song.' In addition, he puts McCartney in the video of the song, but not in the song itself." (Again, this is English translated to French and then back to English, but you get the point.)

Regarding Kanye's creative process, Albarn notes, "Kanye West is one of those people who feed on other people." He says he tried to warn McCartney about Kanye's vampiric tendencies: "Before he decided to work with Kanye West, I sent a text message to McCartney saying, 'beware,' but he ignored it. He does what he wants, it's Paul McCartney."
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Wow, really, Damon? You're shitting on sampling music? That's some antiquated stuff.
 
Enthus

Enthus

One Winged Slayer
Member
Oct 27, 2017
1,582
I was going to wait until my vinyl copy arrived, but I ended up listening to it already. I loved it. I'm not sure where I would place it in relation to the other albums, but I certainly enjoyed it more than Humanz.
 
XAL

XAL

Member
Oct 27, 2017
373
torre_avenue said:
Damon Albarn says some dumb stuff in a new interview.

Wow, really, Damon? You're shitting on sampling music? That's some antiquated stuff.
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I don't think he's really shitting on sampling, Gorillaz S/T had a bunch of sampling as did Demon Days.

I think he's just mad at Kanye for putting McCartney on the chopping room floor and is lame big dicking him by saying he can write and perform for/with instruments and can dabble in sampling vs not being super music literate and having to rely on sampling only/heavy sample use/reply on autotune for Kanye's vocals.

Sampling and remixing takes a lot of skill for sure, but actually writing and performing with instruments is more difficult and requires a lot more skill and mastery - so he's definitely not wrong in that aspect.

Kanye has put out some great stuff, but I think he's a bit overrated and lauded as some kind of music genius - he's not.
 
zoozilla

zoozilla

Avenger
Jun 9, 2018
522
Japan
Starting my listen, I saw their show in Japan (the regular concert, not the album preview) and it was great, the Now Now tracks sounded amazing.

Kind of disappointed with the studio version of Tranz though, seeing it live made it seem like a shout-at-the-top-of-your-lungs banger.

torre_avenue said:
Damon Albarn says some dumb stuff in a new interview.

Wow, really, Damon? You're shitting on sampling music? That's some antiquated stuff.
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Damon's views on hip hop make it clear that it's a genre he's really only appreciated from a distance.

I mean, in one interview he made the claim that Gorillaz was one of the first acts to have features. WTF.
 
Ghos

Ghos

Member
Oct 25, 2017
3,986
McCartney was credited on several Kanye-related songs in 2015, including "All Day," "Only One," and "FourFiveSeconds" with Rihanna. It was not always clear exactly what McCartney did on these songs, which Albarn says is because Kanye pared down McCartney's contributions to almost nothing. Speaking about the removal of McCartney's voice from "FourFiveSeconds," Albarn says, "It's rude… I have a problem with this abusive collaboration: we're talking about Paul McCartney, anyway! Kanye West thinks only of Kanye West, using a name to make headlines, saying 'McCartney is in my song.' In addition, he puts McCartney in the video of the song, but not in the song itself."
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He sounds like some of the Humanz detractors.
 
NotLiquid

NotLiquid

One Winged Slayer
Member
Oct 25, 2017
34,781
torre_avenue said:
Damon Albarn says some dumb stuff in a new interview.

Wow, really, Damon? You're shitting on sampling music? That's some antiquated stuff.
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He's got a point though. The Paul McCartney features in Kanye's tracks are just a formality and drowning him in a bunch of samples is doing him a disservice. I also take issue with the way Kanye handles his samples. His producers infamously and egotistically brushed off Aphex Twin for offering to improve Blame Game because the sample they employed from one of his own tracks was awfully used and of questionable quality.

Damon's opinion on sampling is just an opinion but what he's saying about Kanye is absolutely true.
 
Catvoca

Catvoca

Member
Oct 25, 2017
4,182
Saying "I do not sample, I create music" is some ignorant shit.

I wonder if it's just badly translated or something since according to an interview in The Sun today

Of all the current American stars, Damon believes Kanye West is the greatest talent since Cobain.

"I hope Kanye doesn't end up going the same way," he says. "America produces these neurotic, difficult, troubled versions of itself."
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https://www.thesun.co.uk/tvandshowbiz/6653051/gorillazs-damon-albarn-new-album-the-now-now/
 
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Bonejack

Bonejack

Member
Oct 27, 2017
16,654
Listened to the full album now, definitely reminds me of Plastic Beach somehow. Since this is my favorite album (sorry zoukka), i really like The Now Now. For me, definitely better than Humanz.
 
Bronx-Man

Bronx-Man

Banned
Oct 25, 2017
15,351
Right off the bat I'd say this is the best Gorillaz have sounded since Demon Days. This album is so concise and laser-focused compared to Humanz, it's so good. What a nice summery pop album Damon dropped on us.
 
Pimienta

Pimienta

Member
Oct 25, 2017
1,837
This is muuuuuch better than Humanz. I'm liking it quite a lot. Hollywood is my favorite on first listening.
 
TemplaerDude

TemplaerDude

Member
Oct 25, 2017
2,204
Fun album. Probably not my favourite from them, but really fun listen. Surprised to see the pushback for fireflies from some people, that song was an instant hit for me.
 
Blader

Blader

Member
Oct 27, 2017
26,623
Great, chill album. Not a weak track in the bunch. Tranz, Lake Zurich, and Souk Eye are the standouts for me.
 
Roxas

Roxas

The Fallen
Oct 28, 2017
3,575
Buenos Aires, Argentina
Have to say, love the album, listened to it a million times and it's great, really really love Idaho and Souk Eye, but I think there's a lack of more... upbeat tracks, like Hollywood, Humility, or Tranz which are the ones people usually gravitate towards. Not that I'm complaining, I love Damon when he's on quieter tracks, but at times it felt like Everyday Robots 2 more than Gorillaz.

On the whole though, I loved it, hard to rate it but maybe I'd say Demon Days Live -> DD -> PB -> Now Now / Humanz -> Gorillaz -> The Fall
 
Rean

Rean

Member
Oct 27, 2017
1,329
"meh" is my rating for the album.

time to give another listen to demon days and plastic beach
 
beelulzebub

beelulzebub

Member
Oct 25, 2017
4,598
I think this is my least favorite Gorillaz, The Fall aside. I think Gorillaz (and Damon Albarn in general) is at their best when they're collaborating, and I kinda respond to this in a similar way that I do to The Fall, which just kinda washes over me and very few songs make an impression.

I'm also just not in a place mentally where I can enjoy something lighter, more fun, and summery which The Now Now feels to me. Where I'm at right now the album comes off as...trite. I've just finished listening to it and I've already kinda forgotten about it. This is album I'll keep revisiting over the years to see if I respond differently to it, though.

Humanz still their best album IMO.
 
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